Good morning. Grace and peace to you.
Today’s Kindle deals include some excellent choices by Crossway that will help you get caught up in your doctrine. Also recommended is Michael Witmer’s Urban Legends of the Old Testament.
Pastor, Be What You Want to See
It would be difficult to over-express the importance of this principle. “Pastor, whatever you are, your church will eventually become. If you are a loudmouth boaster, your church will gradually become known for loudmouth boasting. If you are a graceless idiot, your church will gradually become known for graceless idiocy. The leadership will set the tone of the community’s discipleship culture, setting the example of the church body’s ‘personality.’ So whatever you want to see, that is what you must be.”
When Mom and Dad Quietly Cast Out a Demon
As this writer makes clear, dealing with demonic forces is not to be done as you see in the movies (or in various other Christian traditions).
Mom & Dad: Show Your Need
“‘I have one regret of how I parented,’ my friend told me. I leaned forward. My friend is a godly man married to a godly wife. He’s kind and gentle and wise. As an educator, he’s witnessed a lot of parenting, good and bad, in his day. His adult children have had their struggles but are good people. I would ask him for parenting advice in a second. What was his greatest regret?”
Gossip: A Sin That Is Sadly Indigenous To The Church
Sadly, it is true that gossip often seems to thrive within the local church (or the wider church, for that).
If I Were God
We all have these moments from time-to-time, don’t we—times when we are pretty sure we could do things better than God. “It’s easy to start second-guessing God and the way he has ordained things in this world. We see injustice, we see pain, we see tragedy, and we think: ‘If I were God, I don’t think I’d have planned it this way.’”
The Dangers of Idolizing a Wife
“Any love that leads a husband to disobey God, abdicate his responsibility, choose her over Christ in the moment of decision or the drift of a lifetime — such is not love from above. This age catechizes with romance novels and Romcoms, commends a carnal love, a love that pinches its incense before Aphrodite and Eros. As with Romeo and Juliet, it is a godless, idolatrous infatuation, a romantic suicide.”
Flashback: These Have Been Good Days, But Hard Times
God is good. Though I have had some moments of self-pity, I don’t think I’ve had as much as one moment of doubting God’s goodness or kindness or noble plan.
Jesus is the Lion of Judah and the Lamb of God – He was lionhearted and lamblike, strong and meek, tough and tender, aggressive and responsive, bold and brokenhearted.
—John Piper
